Who we are:
We are a self-organized group of FLINTA* ¹ in Erfurt who work against sexualized, psychological violence and violence in gender relations in general. After the various publications of cases of sexualized violence in the left-wing scene in 2020, including in Thuringia, we came together. We realized that there are some gaps in the support of those affected and in dealing with these cases and we want to help fill them. We ourselves are part of the radical left. We are not a professional counselling centre or therapists, but a self-organized group that acts in a partisan manner for and with those affected. We want to contribute to the creation of spaces within contexts that see themselves as emancipatory, in which the protection of perpetrators is no longer possible and those affected can feel safe. We ourselves do not cover all the identities included in FLINTA* and are currently positioned as a white and able-bodied group. We aim to work in a way that is critical of power and discrimination. We want to add perspectives to our group, accept criticism and learn.
Our approach:
First of all, it is important for us to say that we are partisan and in solidarity with those affected by sexualized violence and want to act accordingly. Our experience is that this solidarity is often not put into practice in the “left-wing scene”. Here too, we experience and recognize the spread and anchoring of sexism as a social power relationship. Sexualized violence is interwoven in many ways with a patriarchal (social) consensus, from which even anti-fascist structures are not free. We want to attack this power relationship, this consensus.
Our goals:
We want to be approachable for those affected by sexualized violence, for supporters and for structures in Thuringia that show solidarity with those affected. Our aim is to support people and groups in becoming capable of taking action themselves. We want to create more networks between people and structures that share our attitude. We want to be able to contact each other to support, inform and strengthen each other. We don’t want to be service providers, we want to strengthen self-organization. We want to create a network that can support and empower each other.
How we work:
Support can mean many things. For example, it can start with an initial meeting where you can tell us what you want to tell us. We can then consider together what options there are for support and how to deal with it. There are different needs when it comes to dealing with experiences and we want to support you in dealing with them. This could be, for example, setting up a support group . What we do as a support structure cannot replace trauma care or therapy. We can also refer you to professional counseling centers that offer counseling and support to those affected, such as women’s centers and queer centers.
In addition to direct support work, we offer to organize exchange and knowledge transfer on the topic in the form of lectures and workshops. These can be various theoretical and practical topics, such as defining power, anti-sexist awareness, support group work, community accountability, perpetrator work or transformative justice.
What else?
In acute cases, we want to act to support those affected. We also find it important to raise awareness, regardless of specific cases. In particular, we are targeting people and structures within contexts that see themselves as left-wing, emancipatory, progressive and feminist. A lot still needs to be done to create an anti-sexist left-wing scene. We want to move towards a practice that overcomes the patriarchy inscribed in us. This also means making mackertum visible and highlighting and abolishing patriarchal structures. It is important to us that we create an awareness of sexist behavior and strengthen personal responsibility in and of structures. Responsibility should be shared and the process of coming to terms with it should not remain solely with those affected and their supporters. Responsibility and dealing with sexualized violence concerns us all!
¹ FLINTA* – Acronym for female, lesbian, inter, non-binary, trans and agender people. In other words, the people who are devalued and discriminated against in the patriarchy.